Abrams, S. (2016). Education and the Commercial Mindset. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Though focused on K-12 and the United States, Sam Abrams' insightful book looks at the spread of the idea that private sector thinking should inform public education policy. This kind of thinking has led to a global education reform movement (GERM), which has infected all areas of public policy, including higher education, in many parts of the world. While Canada's post-secondary sector has only a small number of private players, policy making is informed by notions of markets, competition, entrepreneurial delivery and other commercial constructs. This book is worth the read. Carefully researched and full of insights, Sam Abrams has done a masterful job of deconstructing this thinking and showing its weaknesses. He also suggests all public policy makers need to learn from these developments so as to better enable public education.
